10. Hawaii
The tax situation in Hawaii is a little bit complicated… Hawaii’s sales tax is a 4 percent levy, and it follows a General Excise Tax applied to many services and goods, groceries included. Additionally, Kauai Counties, Hawaii, and Honolulu put a 0.5 percent surcharge tax in order to pay for transit systems. All of these translates to a 4.44 percent average combined rate.
As if things weren’t already difficult enough, this tax is actually calculated on the vendor, and if the vendor wants to pass the tax to the customers/clients, he will because it’s 100 percent legal.
The lowest income tax rate is 1.4 percent applied on up to $4,800 of taxable income for those who file jointly and up to $2,400 for residents who file as individuals. The highest one is 11 percent on more than $400,000 for married couples who file jointly and over $200,000 for single filers.
Owning a home here translates to a $273 tax per $100,000 of assessed home value. And if you have estates that are worth $5.49 million or even more, you’ll face Hawaii’s estate tax, which ranges from 10 percent to 20 percent. But inheritance tax doesn’t exist here.
